Singapore Banks Set Provision
For Loans to Asian Neighbors

SINGAPORE -- Singapore lifted the veil on its sizable exposure to its neighbors' crisis-racked economies, revealing that the island's banks will take a big hit to make provisions against bad loans.

Singapore's six major bank groups will report earnings on average 30% lower for 1997 than for 1996, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Parliament, responding to investors' longstanding demands for a look at the banks' books. While the banks' hefty exposure to Southeast Asia makes them vulnerable to the region's fortunes,...